Liberty at Work

Winner of the Best of 2005 NeoCon Gold Award in Guest Seating, Humanscale’s Liberty Side Chair was revolutionary for its use of translucent mesh textiles designed by Elizabeth Whelan. “We had a list of criteria for the mesh,” Whelan says. “It had to be strong, be able to take a seam, perform and, most importantly, it had to look good.” While designer Niels Diffrient was hesitant to design a conference chair using mesh, the two-year collaboration resulted in a chair that, according to Diffrient, “fits like a suit.” This year, the New York City-based team brought the Liberty chair into the task-performance realm. They created an ergonomically sound chair that incorporates the same look and feel of the original side chair and results in an office chair with the choice of armless, fixed, and height adjustable armrests.